Voice acting has been an aspect of video games for a long time. It wasn’t always technically possible, and it certainly wasn’t always implemented well, but the advent of voice acting was supposed to herald a turning point for storytelling in video games. Voice actors were tasked with bringing characters to life, furthering immersion and creating tales to rival other media. But, for the humble RPG, it might just have had the opposite effect.
The RPG is characterised as having a strong focus on storytelling and creating an immersive world. Perhaps two of the most acclaimed RPGs ever made were Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X, these games excelled at both storytelling and world building. Final Fantasy VII a Squaresoft Playstation and PC masterpiece – is a game predating the widespread use of voice acting, but whose characters have later been given a voice. In 2001, Final Fantasy X arrived and re-established what a mainstream RPG should be, and was the first completely voiced game in the series. We can compare these games in a case study for why voice acting has actually dulled the RPG genre and undermined its constructivist appeal.
One aspect of RPGs that I love is that each character in our party is, to some extent, customizable. Every single character is unique to us and our particular game. Let’s look to Final Fantasy X and its Sphere Grid as a prime example of this. The player can dictate the path and growth of each character, albeit limited by the “intended” and “default” paths somewhat. The moment the player gains access to Friend or Teleport Spheres, however, they are essentially able to freely shape a character in whatever manner they see fit, including which abilities to unlock and which stats to increase.
While FFX might have been the game to give the player the most control, we can look at a more restrictive system – such as the materia and equipment systems in FFVII – and can still see the freedom the player is given: the player can choose which materia to equip (which affects stats & abilities), as well as the characters’ weapons, armour and accessories (all providing boosts to various stats).
In both FFVII and FFX there is no party member who is by default a "white mage". The character fulfilling that role depends ultimately on whomever you choose to equip the restore material or activate the cure node, respectively.
Most FFs and other RPGs give you some control over shaping your characters’ roles. Combine this with the fact that many RPGs allow the player to make decisions that can affect the plot (including optional characters, branching storylines, etc.) of the game and, in essence, the player is given the ability to write their own story. Even in games with a linear plot and no story branching, we as players are able to mold the characters into what we want them to be. It gives these games more diversity, makes each playthrough different and and makes each character uniquely our own.
This gives players the opportunity to become an active agent in the story, unlike static media consisting of novels, films, and TV shows in which we are passive observers. Video games are more akin to what are called writerly texts - think back to the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books of our youth. Roleplaying games, and Final Fantasy in particular, allow us to put our own stamp on the experience.
Voice acting is now standard in RPG video games. Featured in nearly every title both blockbuster and indie, I can’t help but feel that voice acting is limiting the player’s ability to “own” their game. While this is obviously an opinion and hardly universally supported*, it is an opinion that is shared and an important one to note.
Let me clarify my main gripe. It is with voice acting in console RPGs, primarily Japanese in the same vein as the previously mentioned Final Fantasy series, in which the player takes an active role in battle, gameplay and story progression.
In my opinion adding a "voice" to characters lessens the immersion of RPGs. We, the player, can no longer imagine the voices we want each of the characters to have. In books, a predominately text-based medium, the reader has the ability to determine for themselves where emphasis would be placed, what characters sound like and even what they look like. This is similar to the voiceless RPG, where the dialogue and narration is purely text and gives the player the freedom to voice it themselves, in whatever way they deem best. Most of the early RPGs even allowed players to name the characters themselves.
If FFX were free of voice acting, then the infamous “laughing scene” would not have received the backlash that it did. Try this mini-experiment: mute your volume and watch the video below at 2:02-2:38, just imagining their laughter as pure text at the bottom of your screen.
Now unmute it and watch it again. Who the hell is going to tell me that the voice acting made that scene better? To me, it is one of the all-time most painful cutscenes ever made. If you’re a glutton for punishment, than you can try the same experiment and listen to the staccato Japanese version. This kind of experience is not unique to Final Fantasy X; those of you familiar with the Star Ocean series will probably share my feelings toward the awful voice acting in Star Ocean 4.
For those of us from the PS1 generation, it is easy to understand what I mean. We didn’t grow up with voice acting, and understand what games were like before it became widespread. Final Fantasy VII’s main character, Cloud Strife, is a good example of how a character can change when given a voice.
The Cloud that led my party against Sephiroth was not the same Cloud that led yours. My Cloud had a part-time healer role, while I know many of my friends used him purely as a brawler/hitter, and one friend actually used him as the primary black mage. Since my Cloud had a healing role, it helped to shape the way I viewed his personality. I did not have the impression that Cloud was a cold and distant individual; instead, my Cloud seemed friendlier and concerned with the well-being of his friends and comrades.
This explains why many people felt that Cloud’s portrayal in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was inaccurate. Most watched the film expecting to see their image of Cloud brought to life, and instead were met with a brooding and solitary version. In hindsight, it seems silly to think that the “official” voice and personality of Cloud would match the one we created. This same trouble is found with film adaptations of books - imagine having known Jack Reacher as 6’5’’... and then imagine my surprise when 5’7’’ Tom Cruise played him.
We shouldn’t by default blame the voice actors when our expectations are not met. Just because we disliked the voice acting does not mean the actor did a poor job. The fault lies within our perception; our expectations of the way a character would sound or behave weren’t met. This is one of the biggest risks in taking one of the voiceless RPG characters, particularly a classic such as Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, and giving him a voice.
While voice acting undoubtedly causes divides when brought into a universe which existed without it previously, the simple fact remains that by forcing players to listen to voice actors, the constructivist quality – that each character might resonate with the player in their own, unique way – diminishes. I yearn for a time where we can sit down as fellow enthusiasts and theorize about what each character might sound like while enjoying the differences in interpretation.
* See here, here, here, here, and here for other arguments as to why voice acting isn’t all it is cracked up to be.
I would like to thank the legendary Jiro for his comments on earlier drafts.
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